


the kids from yesterday

by buddybabie



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Getting Back Together, Multi, Neil Hargrove is His Own Warning, billy and max are mlm and wlw solidarity and they love each other
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-21
Updated: 2020-10-21
Packaged: 2021-03-08 18:00:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,675
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27140771
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/buddybabie/pseuds/buddybabie
Summary: max mayfield is 16 years old when she cuts her own hair with a pair of kitchen scissors.
Relationships: Billy Hargrove & Maxine "Max" Mayfield, Billy Hargrove/Steve Harrington, Eleven | Jane Hopper/Maxine "Max" Mayfield
Comments: 3
Kudos: 54





	the kids from yesterday

**Author's Note:**

> hi guys, i know i need to update my other fic AND I WILL but i had this lil idea, so enjoy it! or not :)

**well now this could be last of all the rides we take, so hold on tight and don’t look back**

Max Mayfield is 16 years old when she cuts her own hair with a pair of kitchen scissors. She stands in front of the mirror and barely registers the sound of snipping over the sound of her heart beating. Reaching back, she runs her fingers through the uneven cut at the nape of her neck. It feels soft and her stomach feels like it’s a beehive and Max-

Max laughs. She takes the discarded hair in her hand and laughs so hard that her mother comes into the bathroom. When Susan sees her daughter’s hair, she shrieks.

Neil tells her that they should never have let her hang out with all those boys _._ Susan asks _“why would you do this to us?”_ and _“it’ll take forever to grow back_ ” and _“do you want to be a boy?”_

At that last one, Max scoffs. Neil gives a mean laugh.

“She doesn’t wanna look like a boy, just a fuckin’ dyke.” 

“Maybe I am.”

Max feels her skin burn where he hit her across the face. 

Susan does nothing.

That night, Max fills a backpack with a tube of toothpaste, a toothbrush, a stick of deodorant, some shitty band tees and button ups that she had thrifted, two pairs of jeans, underwear and socks, and stuck it under her bed. Then, around midnight, when she can no longer hear the creak of the floorboard, she quietly undoes the loose latch on her window and crawls out. 

—

  
  


Steve Harrington moved into his apartment on Oak Street a little less than a year ago. Coming out as bisexual to his parents proved to be less of a task than he thought it would be. Saying “I’m bisexual” at a family dinner was accompanied with a laugh from his wine-drunk mother. 

“Have fun while you’re young, dear, that’s what I always say.”

After dinner came a stern talking to from his father.

“Steven, it is alright to have phases. You are young and I know you’ll want to act out a little, but don’t ruin your life like this.”

So Steve announces that he’s moving out the next week. He finds a small apartment on Oak Street that his father scoffs at. His mother says that she’s “proud of him for growing up.” 

He moves into the apartment on his own. It’s not a horrible place, not nice by any means, but it’s his own place. Bought with the money he’s saved up from Christmas and birthdays and working shitty jobs at the mall since he was 17 years old, despite his father's protests that he could be staying somewhere more comfortable with a little help from his parents. It’s Steve’s place.

Steve is sitting on the couch scrolling through Instagram when he hears a knock at the door. Three hard knocks in quick succession cutting through the background noise of a random show on Netflix. 

“Steve, please, it’s me!”

Steve hurries over to the door.

“What the hell, M- Where did your hair go?” Steve says dumbly.

“I cut it, fucking _obviously_ , dipshit.”

“Jesus, you’re the one that knocked on _my_ door. Why in hell are you here? It’s past midnight, you should be sleeping-”

“You’re not sleeping, are you?”

“Well, that’s my own damn business!” Steve notices her eyes for the first time. They’re red and watery and she has this look on her face, torn between apathetic and heartbroken and-

His voice softens. “Hey, what happened?”

“I need to go see Billy.”

“ _Woah,_ what? Billy? Is he back? I thought he went off to-”

“He did, which is why I need to go see him. I need to leave Hawkins, Steve.”

“What do you mean? Do your parents know? Do you even know how far Purdue _is_ from here?”

“Yes, I fucking know! Jesus, you ask so many fucking questions it’s like talking to the guidance counselor.”

“Isn’t this fucking kidnapping? Max, you need to _go,_ it’s late, and it’s summer, just come back tomorrow and we can _actually talk about this-_ ”

“I came out.”

Steve’s eyes immediately widen. “You did? How did it go?”

Max rolls her eyes. 

“How do you fucking think?”

Steve doesn’t respond so she continues.

“I cut my hair, and Neil called me a dyke and I just- I said _maybe I am_ and he, uh, he hit me. It’s fine, and I deserved it, I shouldn’t have been stupid and expected it to go any other way, but it just. I can’t stay there anymore. My mom looked so disappointed, Steve. Like I had killed someone, or lit the house on fire and then he hit me and _she did nothing._ She just looked at me. I can’t fucking go back, I can’t do it. If you’re not gonna help, then I’ll hijack a fucking car and drive it there, you know I will. I just know you _get it_ , or at least some of it and I trust you.”

Steve takes a deep breath

“ _Jesus, Max._ I don’t really know what to say.”

“Say you’ll help me.”

“Max, it’s not that easy.”

“Yes, it is. I can use your phone to call El and tell her to tell Hopper that I’m okay and he can sort something out, I won’t even mention you. I’ll say that Billy himself came and picked me up, I won’t even mention you. Just, _please_ , Steve.”

“What happened to your phone?”

“Neil took it.”

A long sigh. 

“It’s an hour and a half drive.”

“Yeah.”

“Go use the restroom, I don’t want to have to make any stops on the way.”

“ _I fucking love you!”_

Max practically tackles Steve and hugs him round his middle. 

“If I get arrested for this, you _better_ testify in court.”

“Deal.”

“Go _fucking pee!_ Jesus.”

  
  


**we don't care about the message or the rules they make, i'll find you when the sun goes black**

  
  


“I thought you said we weren’t making any stops.”

“Shut up, I gotta get gas and coffee so I don’t crash the damn car.”

“Yes, your majesty.”

“Wow you and your brother are really the same, aren’t you?”

“If you mean we’re both funny as hell and and gay as hell, then yes.” A beat. “Is it going to be weird seeing him again?”

“What do you mean?” Steve tries to feign nonchalance as he pulls into the parking lot. 

“I mean, since you guys used to fu-”

“ _Max!”_

“What, I was just asking a question, you’d think I was a ten year old. He’s my brother, I fucking _heard_ you guys when you came over that one weekend when you thought no one was home. Let me just say, I had trouble looking at you for the month after that.”

“ _You fucking heard that?”_

“Steve, you weren’t exactly quiet.”

“Ok! I have ground rules for this trip. Number one, no talking about my sex life. Number two, no talking about _your_ sex life, unless you need, like, advice or help or something and even then, I draw the line at names. Number three, no talking about Billy and I. Together. We weren’t, like, _dating_ or anything, we were just hanging out, so, to answer your question, _no,_ it won’t be weird. We were just friends”

“ _Two bros, chillin’ in a hot tub-”_

“Yeah, yeah, yuck it up. What kind of chips do you want? I'm also getting you water because you honestly look severely dehydrated, but we have two more hours left and if you pee in my car, I will not hesitate to put you on the side of the road.’

“Yes, mom. And Ruffles!”

\----

  
  


“I’m only letting you listen to girl in red right now because you look like you need the lesbian support.”

“Girl in red is good!”

“Yeah, yeah, lesbian.”

“Shut up, you were listening to Taylor Swift’s _Speak Now_ album from, what, 2012?”

“2010.”

“Yeah, yeah, gay boy.”

“That’s bi erasure.”

“Steve, I swear- Wait! Don’t _skip_ it!”

“I draw the line at Tegan and Sara.”

“ _Steeve.”_

_“Back in Your Head_ isn’t even one of their best songs! Play _Boyfriend_ at least.”

“Steve, _please,_ I’m literally running away from home, give me a little support.”

“Well, when you put it that way.”

“ _Steve!”_

“ _Fine!”_

\--------

Max sleeps for three quarters of the drive. Steve doesn’t blame her, it‘s been a rough day. He’ll have her call El when she wakes up, and then probably the rest of the boys. Seeing her new short red hair in her mouth as she drools in her sleep only reminds him of the absurdity of the situation.

_He’s driving two hours away to drop his no-quite-ex-boyfriend’s sixteen year old lesbian sister off at his house because their parents are shitty homophobes. No plan, just about none of his questions answered. Just-_

Will it be weird seeing Billy again? Max’s question rings in his mind as Phoebe Bridger’s voice filters softly through the speakers so as to not wake Max. 

Billy left. He left Hawkins and Steve _can’t blame him_ , is the thing. He wishes he could. Wishes he could just pack his bags and get out of the small town with its shitty fathers and bored wine-drunk housewives and bigoted assholes everywhere. He can’t leave, though. Something too scary about leaving and facing a bigger future, something larger, more _permanent,_ than weekend trips to Indianapolis with Tommy and Carol. Billy wasn’t scared.

It was all he would talk about towards the end, how he wanted to leave. Sometimes, even with Steve kissing down his chest, sweaty in the back of his Beamer, or on the hood of Billy’s Camaro in the woods where no one could see them, Billy would still be talking about leaving. His leg would bounce up and down as he talked.

_“God, Stevie, I hope there’ll be more boys that take cock as good as you in the city.”_

Steve would always feel his mouth go dry at that. He takes a hand off the wheel and takes a sip of water as he turns down a city street into the residential neighborhoods. Siri’s monotone voice coming through. 

_Take a left on Lane Street._

Lane Street. That’s a fucking stupid name. At least, Steve thinks so. Repetitious. The estimated arrival time says 2 minutes. Steve feels jittery.

“You okay?” Max quietly says from beside him. He hadn’t even noticed her wake up.

“I should be asking you that question, kid. Not my brother we’re here to see.”

Max nods. Her leg bounces. “I’ve missed him.”

“Will he be okay that you’re here?”  
  


“I mean, probably? He left his address when he left, and he told me I could always come by if I needed to, I’ve just never...needed to before.”

“I should’ve probably DM’ed or texted him or something.”

“Nah, that’s my fault. I should’ve mentioned it.”

“Wow, we’re really not good at planning road trips.”

Max lets out a surprised laugh. “How could you prepare for something like this, though?”

Steve doesn’t respond, just lets Siri guide him through the last couple directions. 

_The destination is on your left._

It’s a small house, but cute. Grey with quaint white trim. There are Christmas lights up over the porch, despite the fact that it’s the beginning of August. Steve doesn’t know what he was supposed to expect. A garage? An actual garbage dump? He parks on the side of the street, and looks over at Max who is rigid in the seat next to him, face a manufactured shade of blank.

“You know it’ll be okay, right? Like, he won’t send you back or anything,” Steve puts a gentle hand on her shoulder. “It’ll all be okay.”

“I wonder if he’ll like my haircut,” is all Max says as she takes deep breaths in and out, but quietly. Obviously practiced. The list of similarities between the siblings grew every time Steve looked up. 

“I’m sure he’ll love it. He’ll say he hates it, but he’ll love it.” He squeezes her shoulder quickly, then lets her go. “You ready?”

“As I’ll ever be.”

  
  


\---

Steve steps out of the car, and Max is already bounding up the steps. She falters at the third and top one.

“Can you knock?”

“Sure? I mean, I think you should, he is your brother and all.”

“Steve, please?” He can hear the shakiness of her usually controlled voice. “I’m just _scared.”_ She says quietly.

“I got it.” He offers her a small smile and she meets his eyes with a nervous smile.

Knocking on the door, he taps _ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-bum-bum._

_“Who the hell could that be?”_ He hears a woman’s voice yell from inside the house. 

_“I don’t fucking know, Kal, it’s 3 am!”_

_“Well, answer the door, then, fucko!”_

Steve shifts nervously on his feet. He should probably just hop in his car and drive off. Leave Max here, she’d be fine. Max looks like she’s holding her breath from where she’s standing next to him. She looks so small, with her uneven haircut and freckles and _Hawkins High, Go Tigers!_ Sweatshirt that seems too big on her. 

Billy Hargrove opens the door. _Blue eyes._ Steve hasn’t seen him since the day he left, showing up at Steve’s house. Flowers in his hand that Steve _knows_ were picked from his own front lawn. 

_Billy had tucked one behind his ear when Steve came out of his house The afternoon was hot and Billy had almost his whole shirt unbuttoned. He didn’t even bother to turn the engine off when he came up to his doorstep, bouquet of stolen flowers in tow. Billy had smiled, something in his face that Steve that was slightly off. His leg bounced as he tried to stand still with Steve looking him up and down._

_“I guess this is adios, amigo.” Steve had laughed despite feeling like there was a hole in his chest all of a sudden. The sun was too bright._

_“I guess it is.”_

_“Your parents’ home?” Steve felt a rush to his cheeks._

_“No, why?”_

_Billy had grabbed his face and kissed him, wet and dirty on the front porch of the Harrington Manor, where anyone could see. He’d never kissed Steve in public, or whatever semi-public this is. Steve felt dizzy and kissed back. The hot day felt like a fever._

_“See you later, Harrington.”_

_“After a while, crocodile.” He had said weakly._

_Billy laughed his bright hyena laugh anyways, the grin never leaving his face as he waved at Steve and pulled his car out of the driveway._

_Steve stayed on that porch long after he had driven off, wondering why he felt like he was missing something._

  
  
  


“Hey, what’s goin’ on-,” He stops and takes in the taller boy standing at eye-level with himself.

“Lane Street is a really fucking dumb name for a street.” Steve says dumbly.

Billy snorts. 

“Steve Harrington, as I live and breathe.” He looks down at Max, who’s standing silently beside Steve, still as anything. “Is that- Max? What’s with the ‘do? Why the hell are you two here, it’s three in the morning-”

Max leaps forward and splays her arms around Billy, burying her face into his t-shirt. Billy’s arms immediately went around her and held her like that as she cried.

“ _Hey, it’s alright, let it out.”_ Billy was whispering. Steve could only stare. It went on like that for a moment.

When she pulled away, Steve could see the wet spot on the light grey shirt.

“Madmax, whats up? What happened?”

“I’m gay.”

“Shit,” Billy looks at her for a long moment, then sighs. “Jesus, come in, kid.”

Steve feels out of place for a moment, until Billy turns to him. _Blueblueblueblue-_

“You too, pretty boy. Don’t think you’re getting out of this so quickly.”

From inside the house, the same woman’s voice yells “ _Billy, who was that?”_

Billy gives them both a sheepish grin, then calls back to her. 

_“Wanna meet my sister, Kal?”_   
  
  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> love y’all and thanks for reading, enjoy reading and bother me @billyhairington on tumblr if you want


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